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Baking in Nepal – Ginger Snaps

As a Dutch girl living in Nepal, comparing my kitchen skills with those from the local girls can be quite intimidating. They can usually create a delicious meal from 3 ingredients, while I’m still wondering if ‘ghiu’ can be used as a substitute for butter, and how to grind cloves.

But there’s one thing they won’t beat me with.

And yes, if you read the title of this post – you got it. Baking.

When I served my (somewhat burned, therefore disapproved) Dutch spiced cookies to some friends at the base, they declared I now really was a woman. Yes, that’s how important kitchen skills are in Nepal.
And my brownies at Christmas were a hit.

And when I moved to a house with a kitchen and an oven, I decided that I needed to follow up in our family tradition. Well, there wasn’t really a tradition. But I just started it.

My grandfather was a confectioner by profession.
My mom – well, she could have been.
And now it’s my turn.

Here’s something else you need to know: baking in Nepal is different. The flour is different, the sugar is different, and the ovens are just weird. Things never turn out the way you expect them to. And that’s what makes it so exciting! And frustrating when your spiced cookies taste like sand.

Today was my debut: ginger snaps. I found a book titled ‘Cooking in Nepal’ and it’s simply amazing. It’s a collection of recipes that work in Nepal, with ingredients that are available here, and explanation about Nepali measurements, utensils, ingredients etc.

I looked through it, and found the easiest recipe possible. Oil, egg, baking soda, flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon.
Really – anything with ginger and cinnamon is GOOD.

I mixed it, then tried to make balls from it, which didn’t work cause it was too sticky. So I got creative with two spoons. I covered the ‘balls’ in sugar, put them in the oven, and 15 minutes later…got delicious cookies!

I won’t promise I will make something new every week, because between study schedule, load shedding schedule and other people using the kitchen that might just not work so well.